Vietnam craft villages festival opens

ABO/NDO- The Vietnam Craft Villages Festival 2023 opened in Hanoi on November 9, with the participation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and more than 300 delegates.

The four-day event aims at preserving and promoting values of traditional craft villages, and boosting consumption, improving handicraft product value and developing tourism in craft villages.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan highlighted that while urban areas illustrate the nation’s vibrant socio-economic development, rural areas are the place where cultural identity and values have been kept for years.

As traditional handicraft products have made significant contributions to the economy and society, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will continue working closely with competent ministries, sectors and localities to create favourable conditions for handicraft artisans and designers to preserve the traditional values, giving a helping hand to build new-style rural areas, and improve rural livelihoods.

Vietnam craft villages festival opens.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee of Hanoi Tran Sy Thanh said the capital has been prioritising the development of craft villages and carrying out a wide range of mechanisms and policies to preserve them, striving to form an innovative centre for the introduction of OCOP products and branch out nine centres for design and introduction of OCOP products in districts and towns by 2025.

Hanoi will further its coordination with the MARD to effectively carry out the preservation work for traditional craft villages, Thanh said.

NA Chairman Hue visited booths displaying OCOP products and handicraft products from Laos, Indonesia, and Thailand.

As many as 300 booths are displaying traditional creations at the festival, including Bat Trang ceramic, My Duc silk, Phu Vinh bamboo and rattan, Ha Thai lacquer, Chuon Ngo mother-of-pearl inlaid, Chu Dau pottery and many more.

Alongside handicraft products, it also introduces high-quality OCOP agricultural specialties such as Dien Bien rice, Tu Le sticky rice, and Vi Thuy organic rice. During the festival, artisans and craftsmen also demonstrate how they create delicate embroidery pieces, weave silk, and make conical hats, pottery objects or copper bas relief.

(Source: NDO)